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neilrcoulter 's review for:
The Hound of Heaven
by Francis Thompson
I've long meant to read "The Hound of Heaven" straight through, though of course I know the story and have heard bits of it here and there, and in college I played James Syler's fantastic version for wind ensemble. But just this morning I read the excerpt that appears near the beginning of Rebecca—from the book of poetry the main character takes from Max's car—and I thought it was time to read the whole thing. This copy, illustrated beautifully with woodcuts by Tim Ladwig, has been waiting for me on my shelf for many months.
The poem wonderfully conveys the exhaustion of fleeing God, the desperation to find satisfaction, peace, comfort, and rest in anything else in the world other than a God who seems cruel and terrifying, the assumption that it is God who has vindictively taken away all comforts in the world. The actual imagery of the hound in pursuit is not as direct as I'd assumed. But I love the repeated phrase to show the manner of his chase:
The poem wonderfully conveys the exhaustion of fleeing God, the desperation to find satisfaction, peace, comfort, and rest in anything else in the world other than a God who seems cruel and terrifying, the assumption that it is God who has vindictively taken away all comforts in the world. The actual imagery of the hound in pursuit is not as direct as I'd assumed. But I love the repeated phrase to show the manner of his chase:
But with unhurrying chase,The final speech of the hound is so good—echoes of Jesus, and resonating in some of Aslan's speeches later on in Narnia:
And unperturbéd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy
"And human love needs human meriting:The poem is a beautiful meditation on running away and being found.
How hast thou merited—
Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot?
Alack, though knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?"